Ants found during HPP in Belmar, NJ

Recently, I was sent to a home in Belmar, NJ for its summer Home Protection Plan (HPP) servicing. With our HPP, homeowners receive periodic visits and preventative exterior perimeter treatments throughout the year. Also, with a HPP, homeowners can call us at any time to treat a pest infestation that’s covered under the plan at no additional charge. During these servicing visits, we perform a careful and systematic exterior inspection, looking for potential pest issues. Often, we uncover pest activity that the homeowner was completely unaware of. Here, for instance, with this servicing, I found ants trailing up the foundation. By treating ants and other pests while they are still outside, we can often avoid inside infestations that become more problematic to treat. 

When ants build their underground nests nearby homes, foraging ants will often find small cracks and gaps around the foundation and windows to gain entry into the home. Here, I treated the foundation with a non-repellent residual spray. The foraging ants carry back to the nest and unknowingly share  it with the rest of the colony. This type of treatment is often the most effective way to resolve an ant infestation because the product is being carried and distributed throughout the nest, eliminating the entire colony including the reproducing queen. It’s far more effective than ant sprays that simply kill a few isolated foraging ants. 

I also put down a granular product around the home’s foundation. These particles, which are activated with rainfall, release a small amount of product when wet, providing an effective long-term deterrent to ants entering the home. 

We always prefer to eliminate an ant colony before the insects have a chance to gain entry inside the home. Ants, and any pest for that matter, cause far more problems once they are inside. Eliminating ant colonies around the exterior perimeter is one of the best ways for keeping your kitchen and the rest of your home ant-free.